Untouchable

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Summary

The murder of fellow escort Elisa forces Grace to confront the world she now inhabits -and the one she left behind. The police assume she was killed by a client, but nothing quite adds up. Drawn ever deeper into the vortex around Elisa’s death, Grace gradually discovers that even she has her limits.

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New Tricks

You expect more the first time you turn a trick. You hear about women who throw up the moment the client walks out the door. Some who resort to hysterics, or the bottle. Others overcome with remorse, resolving never to do it again.

In my case, nothing. He came. He came – eventually. And then he left. Sliding the lock behind him, I feel nothing more than the vague sensation of having lost my virginity all over again. I walk straight into the bathroom and examine my face in the mirror above the sink. Searching, as after fumbled, hasty, anticlimactic sex at fifteen, for clues to what has changed.

Nothing, it seems. Same sleek dark hair, though underneath eyes more weary two decades on. The hint of a wrinkle I allow to elude my focus, this not being the time for self-doubt.

So that’s that, I tell my reflection. You’ve sold yourself for money. You’re a whore, Grace Thomas, a prostitute, a hooker, a harlot, a working girl.

I release myself from my own gaze, feeling slightly numb and slightly elated. I’ve crossed the line and there’s no going back.